Flight of Fancy
by Rai Walk
Summary: Everything always starts with a bullet. Really, she thought with distaste, what kind of person was named after a tuna fish, of all things. :: Rating for safety. Eventual R27, yes.
1. Second Shot

_I don't know what I'm doing here. __I don't know what people are saying._

_But there is one thing that I know: __I need to be alive to return._

* * *

The sunlight was soft, spotting the ground of the barn with a number of shades of yellow and brown. The three horses whinnied and huffed, woken by the light hours before. The air was warm, not overly humid, and birds chirped serenely outside. Summer was about to end, but Autumn had yet to set in.

Adalina grudgingly applauded the man (boy?) on being somewhat invisible. She couldn't see him sleeping in the place, _at all_. But he'd spent almost three months in her father's farm, and Adalina knew his favorite hiding spot, not that he hid much. He was simply a natural wallflower, and even Adalina's mother was somewhat surprised by how he simply seemed to fade into, and even from, the background.

"_Signore Tonno_," she called rigidly. Despite him being quiet, hard-working and terribly helpful, she had never seen him smile fully. She didn't trust people she had never seen smile, not even once. Furthermore, when he spoke, he kept his hands neatly folded and never raised his voice, always a soft murmur. It was this, more than the accented Italian he spoke, that told her he wasn't from there. She didn't quite know where he could come from, as he did seem to have some of their ancestry- the shape of his eyes and the rounded cheekbones- but he didn't speak as an Italian. Adalina could well remember how her relatives were always loud and gesturing wildly, it was a part of them.

Tie down an Italian's hands, and you made them mute.

This... boy might have italian ancestry, but he hadn't been raised as one. Her father more than once said the brat did act like one, but she had no idea what he meant by that. The boy was almost always saying the wrong words, really, and she was always irritated with him- if only he knew how italians spoke with their hands as well with their mouths, maybe he'd learn something and be easier to understand.

Not that she _wanted_ to understand him.

Now if only she could figure out why her father grinned so stupidly when she insisted on that. "_Signore Tonno_! If you don't wake up and come out, I'm going to drop a whole bucket of water on your head!"

The rustle made her turn her head. His tangled brown hair came into view, and she wondered when he would stop being so weird- no one but _he_ was stupid enough to sleep behind the horses inside the stall. The flat look in his eyes made her glare.

"_Signore Tonno_," she called, her voice laced with sarcasm, "If your highness is ready, please to grace us with your presence at the breakfast table," and she exaggeratedly twirled her hands and mocked a bow. The man-_ brat_- blinked slowly at her.

"Good morning to you too, _signorina_," he murmured softly, standing shakily and blinking the sleep out of his eyes, "I'm sorry for taking so long."

She pushed down her unease at how... _malleable_ he seemed, easy to bend out of the way. That was the kind of person she detested- those who easily abandoned their own convictions so as to not break, or to not die. Like the word _sleazy_- it slithered up one's throat and down the tongue to flop wetly onto the ground and slither away like a vermin. That was what she was convinced _Signore Tonno_ was, a _sleazy_, cowardly and deceiving man.

He twitched his lips lightly at her, a disgusting parody of a tiny smile, as if he knew what she thought of him and found it amusing, and she glared back at him.

Really, she thought with distaste, what kind of person was named after a _tuna fish_, of all things.

...

Breakfast was what it had always been: Her father animatedly telling stories of his work, her mother boisterously making sure everyone ate, her four siblings laughing in answer to her father's stories, and everyone gesticulating wildly as they spoke loudly.

Except for the wallflower, _Signore Tonno_.

Adalina tried, really tried, but the more she watched the _boy_- because a brat that young wasn't, _couldn't_, be called a man- the more she became irritated by how he simply seemed as if he was observing their antics, as if he was watching an interesting play. He acted more like an outside observer than a participant sitting at the same table, and it made her eye twitch.

And her irritation is what probably fueled her next actions.

Once her mother had graciously collected the empty plates, beaming at the unspoken praise to her food, and Adalina quickly excused herself before pulling a fast one and taking hold of one of _Signore Tonno_'s ears and _pulling_.

She had never been more satisfied than the moment he squealed like a girl under her hands.

Her father was laughing loudly as her youngest brother encouraged her with a mischievous grin. Her sister was giggling- she would deal with her later- and her other two brothers looked simply dumbfounded. She hummed before dragging the protesting boy with her to the barn.

He looked more disheveled than she had ever seen him when she forced him to sit on the hay he so liked to sleep in, and seemed to be holding himself back from protesting. She scoffed.

"Say it," and she was treated to a strange, shocked gaze. It was more emotion than he had shown in the said three months he'd spent under her father's care, "You're pissed, so say it." Strangely enough, the feeling that she might be playing with something dangerous and out of her league came only once the words were out of her mouth. It faded as the boy blinked and understanding seeped into his eyes. He stared at her, mouth falling open slightly, and eyes wide in some kind of disbelief.

And then he began to laugh. Adalina was furious, and she prepared to hit him, before she noticed the slightly hysterical edge to his laughter. She lowered her hand and waited.

"I'm sorry," he gasped, and finally she could see a bit of his italian blood peeking through in the exaggerated wave he gave her along with the apology, a wave of a hand that meant _I didn't mean any offense_, "Sorry, I just..." his hands gestured shyly, and she finally saw what her father had been talking about.

The boy's gestures practically _screamed_ that he didn't quite know how to interact with people. Adalina rested a hand against her cheek in some sort of exasperation, feeling more and more like calling the brat an idiot.

"I'm sorry, _signorina_, I just..." and something in the way he flapped his hands around told her more about him than his words ever could._ I'm lost_, it told her, her hand dropping from her cheek as she narrowed her eyes, letting the boy's words wash over her as she observed his gestures, _This isn't my home. I don't know how to go back to my home. But I _need_ to go back._

She released a startled breath that made him quiet down. "You do know we speak with our hands, right?" he nodded, almost confused, "Now I get why papa says you're sorta Italian. You don't notice, but you speak with your hands too. Less than most of us, but you do."

"Ah," he said eloquently, but she could see he had caught a bit of what she meant. She watched as he lowered his head and examined his hands quietly. "I... see." He clenched his hands and lowered them over his knees, and she understood _I shouldn't be talking this much. I shouldn't be read this easily._

"If you don't want to be read easily," she answered him, "Then you have to pay attention to your body, too. You have to make sure you're saying only what you want to say." She huffed, "At least one good thing of you acting like some kind of ornament penguin: you know how to observe people," it was strange to talk this eloquently without using much of her hands, but she now knew he wouldn't understand otherwise. "Observing people and how they act is the best way to learn how to talk with your hands."

Adalina couldn't help but be surprised by the smile she received in return for her attention- a smile that, although didn't seem the happiest the boy could make, was a true smile she hadn't seen before. It lit up the boy's entire face, making her blush, and it was almost like standing on top of the tallest tower and reaching for the sky- peace and serenity all rolled into happiness.

...

They should have known.

They should have all known, especially her father. He was the one that worked for the mafia. he was the one who didn't speak about his darker jobs.

He was the one who sometimes appeared with money without a clear origin.

When the men came, they were swift and to the point. Adalina had watched, numb, as her father was first tortured for the location of money, then killed. Her mother had taken the rape and torture with dignity, but she died as well.

Her older brother was the stupider of the five, and died protecting her.

Adalina didn't fight. She didn't scream, didn't run. But when they dragged her outside, bloody and beaten, she looked up and saw flat autumn eyes looking at her. _Signore Tonno_ was hidden in the nearby forest, outside the men's sight, eyes locked with hers.

It was strange to find some sort of comfort in him, if only because his eyes didn't burn with pity or something of the sort. Adalina could think nothing was wrong, looking into his eyes. Before she could wonder why he wasn't trying to save her, or why she didn't feel all that betrayed, she saw her sister unconscious on his shoulder, and her two younger brothers terrified and hiding their faces in his clothes.

He was watching her, she knew, and committing everything about her, about her parents, about her murderers to memory. He was fierce, but either he saved the three siblings in his hands, or he died trying to retrieve her.

She smiled.

_Signore Tonno_ didn't close his eyes even when the girl's blue eyes shone with a last tear and she fell forward with a bullet hole on her forehead.


	2. Light I

_I don't know who they are. I don't know why they are with me._

_But everything they knew is gone: I am the only being left to them._

* * *

This was a nightmare. This was a nightmare, and it would end soon. She knew. Out of the three siblings, she was the one who maintained her faith the most. Keeping her own alive meant her siblings believed in her, and in turn, kept their own faith alive as well.

_Signore Tonno_ was herding them farther and farther away from the farm that had been their home for their whole lives- but none of them were protesting against it. They couldn't quite recall why, but all three of them felt it was the best course of action. Danger and uneasiness were left behind in their childhood home.

If not for the fact that he had shot down several of their pursuers without flinching, the three might have protested more. As it was, they each had been grabbed more than once, and only _Signore Tonno_'s quick dexterity with a small gun had saved them.

Each time, he had gently talked them into not looking at the corpses and walking away. That it wasn't their fault- merely a situation of "them or us".

She trusted _Signore Tonno_ more than her brothers ever could, she knew. Simply because she knew far more than them. Seeing the future was frightening on some level- but she could see _Signore Tonno_ more than once, more than twice, more than thrice, and he was always as he was now. Gentle, protective, loving in his own way, a diamond uncut and unpolished, the process interrupted by an... accident? She wasn't sure.

She did know she would be the one to help him.

"Hey, hey," the older of the three hissed at her and the younger, "Did you guys choose what you want to be?"

For a moment, she didn't understand. And then she recalled _Signore Tonno_'s gentle voice explaining that the ones after them knew their family, their names, and thus they needed to do something to throw them off. Something to disguise- to _become_- truth. They needed new names. "I... I want to be Colombo." The youngest murmured, hand twisting in her frayed dress.

"_Dove_? Why do you want to be called _dove_?" The youngest flushed at the older's question and quieted. She wanted to reprimand the older, if simply because of his tone of voice, but there was a rustle and all three fell silent and crowded together under the rather low makeshift roof of their hiding spot.

_Signore Tonno_ appeared silently, eyes burning in the way they recognized as having made another kill. She knew each kill chafed at him and his integrity, but she also knew he would crack the world in two if it kept safe those he'd claimed as his. Newly christened Colombo brightened, releasing her dress, and ran to his side, babblling about his name and how he wanted wings as white as a dove's. She smiled at his earnest desire.

"I'm gonna be Marco," the older chipped in, trying his best to not pout. He also wanted _Signore Tonno_'s attention as his little brother had gotten, skittering after the younger. "It's supposed to mean '_From The Sea_', really strong!"

For a moment, she watched _Signore Tonno_'s smile waver, but then she blinked and he was warm and gentle, with autumn eyes roving over the three as he patted their heads and ruffled their hair. "And what of you?" his voice is quiet, soft and tired, but there is always an undercurrent of caring- and she would never miss the way his hands touch the three, declaring for the world to see _Mine. My children, my siblings. Mine, and woe to any who wound them._ and this was what made her heart warm and her cheeks burn.

"I don't know yet," she admitted shakily. She hadn't thought of a name to take, hadn't thought of what to call herself. Hadn't thought of what she could become, still.

"Why not Luce?" Colombo cried brightly.

"_Light_?" thus named Marco chortled, barging back into the conversation, "A bit too much for _you_, sure, but for sister..." and he paused, suddenly quieting. "It's perfect for sister."

She knew she was flushing darker and darker, embarrassment bright and red on her face. She turned to _Signore Tonno_ to have his counsel, or at least his help in arguing against such a presumptuous name-

_Signore Tonno_ was staring at her as if he'd never seen her before. His autumn eyes had lightened to a frightening color close to pure _fire_, and she keenly felt as if his fire scorched all those closest, and it hurt, it _burnt_-

_Signore Tonno_ was smiling. His eyes were the dark brown of fallen dead leaves that the three were used to seeing. Neither Marco nor Colombo seemingly had noticed his burning, and the man had given her a worried glance, hands twisting and refraining from reaching for her.

He was worried he'd hurt her, she realized. Frightened he'd scared her away with his power, dormant as it was. And why would he, she thought... before she ran the name her siblings gave her and realized...

That was her name.

Luce turned dark blue eyes on _Signore Tonno_, twirled a strand of her dark hair and smiled as bright as he used to smile at her, the smile that said _Everything will be alright_.

...

It was as if knowing her name gave them a purpose. Tonno no longer hesitated on where they were supposed to go. He wasn't big on subtlety, all three siblings knew, but Marco had quick wit, Colombo knew about improvisation, and Luce simply _knew_.

So they divided their impromptu tasks: Luce pointed the way, or the person, Marco planned, Colombo took care of what _wasn't_ planned and Tonno... executed everything. He refused to let them on what he called '_the front line_' and crossed first, making sure it was safe for them, or talked to whoever it was that knew what they needed.

And he fought. And bled. And drew blood.

And by his fierceness, by his anger and strenght, Luce knew he had proved his love for them.

Tonno was a fighter in a strange way. His moves were quick, but most of his opponents fell as if from great strenght. They way he fought was the street-way, to fight with all you had, no finesse or thought, simply _to survive_. It was strange to see it applied in a situation to protect someone else.

Both Marco and Colombo easily idolized him. Marco admired his courage, Colombo, his protectiveness. Luce simply loved him- like a brother, because otherwise she knew he would have no choice but to break her heart. Tonno would be kind enough not to string her along false hopes. He was too earnest to do that (even if, for all purposes, he would allow her to think what she wanted, without encouraging or denying, as long as she wasn't clear with him).

But she was never oblivious or stupid. She glimpsed the future, and that made her insight that much sharper.

Tonno was looking for something he knew was related to her. She couldn't see quite that far, but... she was the one who would send him... _home_.

The home he seemed to crave when looking at them. The home he seemed to think was so much safer than these streets, the home he seemed to want to take them to, to keep them safe and protected, the home... not even he knew how to return to.

She didn't know how to help just yet, but one day she would know. When she was stronger. When she knew better.

Luce would help her older brother just as he helped them now.

...

It was understandably strange to meet such a odd child in the streets. She used tatters and scraps sewed together into several layers of one cloak, wind flapping strips into the air, giving her more build than she had. The marks on her cheeks imitated tears. Tonno wasn't worried, and Luce knew this girl would be one of _hers_, one day; and this was why the girl was invited to seek a roof with them.

Their life consisted of simple rules.

Never would they speak of the names they had almost forgotten about. Luce prayed for nameless souls when thinking of her father and mother, her older sister and older brother. Tonno often spoke of the '_little noble_' child that had given him a scolding and hard lessons of speaking Italian. Marco recounted his mischief when he was younger, and Colombo simply thought of warmth and love long gone.

They would avoid remaining in one place for long, lest they be picked up by enemies or well-meaning ignorants. Luce always, _always_, smiled and commented her family waited for her. Tonno dodged and lost his pursuers in a crowd. Marco and Colombo avoided crowds all-together.

They would be quick, and fearless, and ever seeking. They would work, namelessly, for a few coins. And with those coins, gather food, clothes, everything.

It was never easy. It was never soft. But it was their life.

That the girl, claiming herself Viper, accepted it easily, they did not mind. That she began to request coins in return for her services, they did.

Luce did not know the words to appease her, and so did not speak. But Tonno did. Luce had watched as he had taken the tiny, cloaked girl aside and had talked to her at length.

The more the girl denied, the more she saw Tonno's smile. The more the girl raged, the more Tonno's words sounded.

Luce did not want to know what Tonno prophesized. Not with that terrible orange- almost _red_- gaze. His words seemed to spill forth without care on how the girl before him reacted, spilling and marking and burning.

Viper shrieked.

...

Luce cornered Tonno only once after that. She despised that method he had used. She despised whatever he had marked Viper with- as docile as she was now, he had to have done something.

"Never," Luce valiantly forced her voice into unquivering steel, "Never do that again. She doesn't deserve this kind of thing. She is kind hearted, sweet, and every human being on this world has flaws." But even though her voice was strong and unbending, her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks too burned.

Tonno didn't smile. "I told her the truth," his voice was soft, quiet, nightmarish, "I told her a truth she had forgotten. I told her what she would willingly bind herself to. I did no curses and no binds, I do so swear, Luce."

It was frightening how sincere he sounded. Luce slapped him.

"We are humans, and as humans we break easily," she told him, her tears returning, "Why did you forget that?" she sobbed.

Tonno spared only a moment to press a hand against his cheek, his eyes (finally autumn brown instead of the orange that frightened her) turned soft and regretful. He embraced her with a tremulous sigh.

"I'm sorry..." he murmured, "You may be right... I think I'm starting to forget what being human is like."

Luce could only sob. She vowed she'd not let him forget, vowed to remind him of it at every opportunity: of happiness, of strength, of brittle souls and tearing sadness. She would _help_ him.


	3. Light II

_I don't know why everything is wrong. __I don't know why she screamed._

_But she is mad at me... __I did something... terrible..?_

* * *

Viper disappeared from their grasp as soon as darkness settled and Tonno was out of their sight. Luce didn't hold it against her. They would meet again, she knew, though the other girl might not take kindly to Tonno's presence. Luce watched her cloak disappear from sight from the corner of her eye, feeling melancholic.

But maybe it wasn't a good idea for Tonno to meet more of _hers_- unless she managed to properly impress on him that doing whatever he had done was a Really Bad Idea. He still seemed somewhat out of it, though, and Luce had caught him rubbing the cheek she'd slapped with a distant look on his face. He looked... lost. In more ways than one.

Oh, how Luce loved him. But she had to tread carefully, making sure to not love him too much. And that was the problem, wasn't it.

...

When Tonno returned with yet another child on his heels, Luce took a deep breath before looking.

It was a boy. A boy, older than Viper, eyes as dark as an abyss. Luce felt a shiver run _up_ her spine and raise the hairs on the back of her neck. The boy was unnatural. Unholy, demonic, whatever the word. Tonno had him sit with them, but Luce clearly saw that he stood between the three siblings and the boy at all times. He knew the boy was dangerous. Why had he brought him along?

Luce could barely look into the boy's eyes. Every time she tried, he seemed to snap to look at her, and the grin, the _smirk_, that spread his lips like a demon's made her drop her eyes as quickly as if she'd looked into the sun. The boy _burned_, like Tonno did when he had those orange eyes. But unlike Tonno, who changed into something soft and malleable and pleasantly docile, this boy did not. Luce saw only a future of burning out too early. It didn't look pleasant.

Marco and Colombo were the first to fall asleep that first night. Luce felt the boy's presence too keenly to do so.

"You're not going to live long if you continue like this," Tonno's voice was blunt. Luce could almost feel the orange gaze creeping along her back where she laid on a frayed cot, facing Colombo's serene sleeping face.

"Did it occur," the boy's voice was quiet, the fire curled around it and tightly packed. To a normal person, he would be deadpan. She could only hear the raging anger of a cornered beast, "That maybe I don't want to?"

She heard Tonno snort. "You're an idiot." There was something bitter and biting in her older brother's tone. She didn't want to hear him speak like that.

"There's nothing left," the boy continued as if her brother hadn't spoken. "I'm nothing. If anything, I should be destroying everything around me." The fire curled even further into itself, devouring, and the burnout was far closer than she had realized.

"There is a shitload of things left," Luce's ears burned with the word her mother had drilled into her mind never to repeat, "Like, for example, your want to live, your _Will_." Something in the way Tonno said the word made her shake.

The boy scoffed. "As if you know anything about me."

Luce heard a whistle. Then a crack. The boy yelped indignantly, scared, but- his position was off. She scrambled up to look at them.

Tonno held him against the wall of the alley, his hat fallen off to the ground, for the first time in months allowing his hair freedom. His eyes were orange, and his hands wrapped around the boy's neck, unflinchingly strangling him even as the boy dug his nails in and scratched away at his flesh.

Luce didn't quite know what to do. Tackling Tonno meant freeing the boy, and she had the distinct feeling that if she did that, both of them would attack her in turn. Nothing would change if she tackled the boy. She tripped on her way to them, taking hold of Tonno's wrists and bravely trying to stare him down.

There was a thin ring of red tarnishing the orange she feared- and though the fear of the orange was something she'd gotten used to, this red, this... _bloody crimson_ sent unbridled terror spinning through her mind. The boy seemed to share her feelings, for he _howled_, half in anger, half in fright, and Luce could see blood welling up from where he furiously scratched at Tonno's hands.

The red flared in her brother's eyes and the next thing she knew, the boy had dragged her away from Tonno, abyss eyes sharp and focused and mouth twisted in a feral sneer. Tonno straightened, observing the boy and Luce. She... was confused.

"See?" Tonno's voice and expression were flat, but there was a glimmer of satisfaction, "_That_ is your _Will_." Luce felt the boy's arms go slack with shock, and she took advantage of it to hurry back to her cot, suddenly feeling foolish. Tonno wouldn't have hurt the boy... right?

...

The next day, when her younger brothers asked the boy (again) what his name was, his smile was crooked and mocking, but he answered the only word he knew of English.

"Reborn, like a demon crawling from a grave away from death."

"It fits you," Tonno commented quietly with a strange, knowing smile. The boy eyed him, blankly, curiously. Luce smiled, because despite the unsettling words, the furious flame in his eyes had settled into someone who wouldn't simply roll over and let himself be killed.

...

Reborn had decided to follow them.

Luce didn't quite know whether to be delighted or worried, but she supposed this time Tonno had done something right. Maybe Viper simply hadn't been compatible with his methods, or... maybe he had changed his methods somewhat? She'd never know, as Tonno wouldn't tell her what he'd said to Viper even if she asked. Her older brother could be rather secretive when he wanted to.

Reborn, on the other hand, wasn't secretive. She could see through him far more easily than she ever thought possible. It wasn't that he didn't want to answer her younger brother's questions, he simply _had_ no answer. He didn't know what was his favorite food, he didn't know what irked him the most, he didn't quite know what his greatest fear was.

The more he didn't know how to answer, causing a slow, bewildered blink on his otherwise blank face told Luce- and Tonno, she knew he caught those signs, as well- to wonder what kind of family kept a child so closed. And what exactly had happened to such a family for the boy to be in the state they had found him, thinking of either dying in battle, or destroying everything in his path until he burned out.

Her younger brother's enthusiasm, however, made the boy start to wonder himself.

Luce had to watch in stupefied amusement as he tried a little bit of everything that crossed his path- and while her brothers laughed with tears in their eyes as he gagged and Luce smiled, bewildered, every time he curiously stuck his finger into another pastry, she saw Tonno allow his lips to quirk in the slightest curve, looking fondly at the black haired boy. She wondered what had endeared the boy to her brother.

And then they had hit upon _chocolate_. But not _normal_ chocolate, no, that would have been _too_ easy- Reborn kept complaining it was too sweet.

"Then try this one," annoyed, Marco had found a way to get a bar of dark, bitter chocolate. He shoved it in the hands of the boy, confirming Luce's suspicions that he was dreadfully jealous on the way Reborn had gotten in Tonno's good graces so quickly. "It's not _too sweet it will make your tummy hurt_."

She winced as Reborn's own not-quite-whining words were thrown back at him. The abyss-eyed boy, for his part, just returned with his infuriatingly slow blink before taking the darker-than-normal treat.

Marco and Colombo missed it, but she saw the absolute amusement on Tonno's face. Reborn's features seemed to relax in surprise as he looked down at the chocolate. Then a small narrowing of his eyes showed his pleasure as he bit a second time on the bar. "Still sort of sweet, but this is _good_."

She didn't find out why Tonno laughed in that moment until later on, when he gave each of them a small cup of dark brown liquid- coffee, he said. Reborn's entirely too pleased expression and Marco's loud complaining on how bitter it was told her all she wanted to know.

...

"What's your goal?" Luce was just a few moments from falling asleep when she heard the question in Reborn's voice.

"We're trying to find a _Famiglia_," Tonno answered after a few moments, "The _Giglio Nero_."

Luce frowned. That name was familiar... "Are you really sure you should be telling me this? Who knows, I might be an enemy." She felt uneasiness rise in her throat at Reborn's retort.

"You don't know that," Tonno returned coldly, "And I don't think you'd attack _her_." Luce swored she could feel both their gazes on her back.

"...point," Reborn groused, "You shouldn't trust people this easily, no matter what you know about them, still."

She could almost see Tonno's amused little smile, "Thank you for the advice." They fell silent after Reborn's snort.

...

Luce was not surprised when Reborn led Tonno to a specific location, some weeks after the quiet talk while the three siblings were all supposed to be asleep. Reborn didn't elaborate why, but Tonno trusted him in strange ways, and Luce knew something would be gained through the abyss-eyed boy, even if she could hear gunshots from two houses away of said location.

As always, she was right. They both returned, Tonno with his determination flaring, and Reborn with jerky movements, eyeing her strangely. Something he'd heard, something Tonno had unearthed or even said himself, had shifted the boy's perception of her. She didn't have enough strength to see what it might be, but she had a hunch.

They all helped Tonno pack their measly belongings into a small bag that Reborn offered to carry, if only to keep Tonno's hands free, before they set out to their new destination. Three days of travel, as Tonno had informed them, was what it took to get to the town they were seeking, and that was where Reborn refused to follow them further.

"But why?" Colombo's tearful whine, as all other complaints from her younger brothers, elicited only the raising of an ink black eyebrow. Reborn was not moved.

"I have other things to do," he answered simply, "I can't do them where you're going."

"Then where are you going?" Marco's eyes held a glint of some sort of machination she couldn't really guess at. "Tell us that, at least."

Reborn's eyes narrowed at the younger boy, scrutinizing him. Luce thought she caught light movement from the corner of her eye, but when she turned to look, Tonno's face was impassive. "I'm not going too far." Tonno's lip curled in distaste, and Luce knew it was a lie.

Marco didn't seem to know. The glint of machination in his eyes only grew. "Don't lose us." And though those were perfect words to say to someone like Reborn, Luce knew the boy had taken an immediate dislike to her brother. Reborn wouldn't lose her or Tonno, and maybe even Colombo, but Marco had managed, with one question and two thinly veiled orders, to get into the older boy's bad list.

She kept quiet.

Reborn nodded stiffly at her brother before tilting his head at her with a soft look, eyed Colombo blankly, and then... _glowered_ at Tonno. Her older brother just grinned and ruffled his hair, scratching a particular spot she knew could make abyss eyes half-lidded in boneless pleasure.

Reborn batted his hand away with a growl.

And then he turned away and disappeared in the shadows of the town. Luce tried to feel less disappointed than she had with Viper, but it was difficult. She took the same comfort that she had with the girl- she'd see him again.

That was inevitable.


	4. Light III

_I don't know why I'm doing this. I don't know why I'm following this path._

_But it's not mine to choose... I am leading her to tragedy._

* * *

The_ Giglio Nero_ was a small, tight-knit family that thought the group of three children and one teenager suspicious the moment they came in view, and the only reason they simply didn't shoot them down was because, apparently, their Boss had ordered them not to. It was not reassuring, and she could tell Tonno felt the same way. Marco only seemed suspicious, and Colombo seemed only uneasy by the by the looks they were given. Luce worried her bottom lip, making sure to keep quiet.

She was honestly surprised to realize that the Boss of the _Giglio Nero_ was a thin, dark-eyed woman that stared them down, or tried to. Luce doubted that there was reason to be intimidated, Tonno didn't seem to realize he was supposed to feel threatened, and Marco shoved himself in front of her, as to protect her from the woman's gaze. A quick glance to the side informed her that Colombo was peeking curiously from behind Tonno's waist.

Ancora Carmine was a tiny woman with the presence of an ice maiden. Were they ordinary guests, Luce knew they would have quailed silently under her gaze until she graced them with an ear for their confessions. But they were not ordinary guests, especially Tonno.

Luce was only mildly surprised when her older brother maneuvered Marco closer to Colombo and gently pushed her forward. She wasn't afraid, there was no _reason_ to be afraid, she only vaguely wondered what Tonno intended by presenting her.

Carmine rose from her seat to the surprise of her subordinates, heels clicking on the polished floor and stopping before Luce, all flowing silk dress and curves. Luce _was_ surprised when Carmine's fingers gently lifted her chin, her other hand brushing away dark, dirty hair away from her face. Up close, Luce realized Carmine shared her eye-color: a deep, dark blue that both her and her older sister had inherited from their mother.

"I have," Carmine's voice was soft, deceptively gentle, and her eyes drank in Luce's features giving the distinct impression she was trying to memorise the girl's face, "Two nieces and three nephews. Why do you bring me only three out of five?"

Luce's breath caught.

Ancora Carmine was her _Aunt_. Her mother's _sister_.

They still had_ family_.

"The others are dead," Tonno's voice was gentle, but it still cut through a tense atmosphere like a blade, "The mother, the father, the older brother and older sister. I did my best to lose any tails before coming here."

Carmine released her chin and turned to look just behind her, over her head. Her calloused hand with manicured nails rested on top of Luce's head- but the girl's gaze simply could not leave the woman's face. "Why should I believe you, and not set to break your fingers until you tell me where my sister and her other children are?" Luce vaguely took notice the woman hadn't spoken of her father, but she saw the slight tightening on the corner of Carmine's eyes.

"What would be the point?" Tonno returned, his voice still soft and unthreatening. Luce could almost believe he was defenseless. "I have brought the only survivors I could save, Madam, but I cannot work miracles. Your... sister and her husband are dead. So is their older son. I watched the older girl be shot." Luce started. She hadn't known that.

Carmine's hand pressed insistently upon her head. "What is your name, _boy_?" the word was derisive falling from the Lady's lips. Carmine's subordinates were already shifting into threatening stances and preparing to protect the children the moment the realization that they were_ family_ settled in their minds. Luce felt a curious mix of emotions that included an addictive warmth from the feeling that she was among people that would protect her, and terror that these same people were preparing to turn against _Tonno_, the one person that had not only saved their lives, but brought them here.

She could feel her eyes widen even as she heard Colombo gasp and Marco growl.

Carmine's subordinates pulled out their guns.

...

The contained chaos that left the room an interesting mess only ended when Carmine called a halt to her men, her dark eyes flashing as she analyzed how Tonno protected the three children. Luce didn't know what Carmine saw exactly, but the woman smiled tightly. The girl guessed she approved how he'd immediately pushed them away from the line of fire, abandoning his offensive at the first sign of someone trying to approach the children. Luce was only glad no bullets had hit any of them, though she suspected Tonno's usually dormant strength had something to do with it.

Carmine retreated as her men righted her chair, and she sat as regally as she had sat before confronting Tonno. "What do you want?" she snapped at him after a few moments of consideration, "Money? Gratitude? A favor from the _Giglio Nero_? Name your reward. You'll have it, then you leave and don't look back."

"If he leaves, we leave with him," Marco piped up. Colombo nodded vigorously from behind them, agreeing.

Carmine raised one dark eyebrow before, to their surprise, looking at Luce. "_Oh_?"

"Yes," her voice was steadier than she felt, "Where our older brother goes, so do we." There was something eerily satisfying in hearing Tonno inhale sharply out of surprise. Though the three acknowledged him as their older brother, they had never claimed such a relation outloud. Carmine obviously was not fool enough to believe Tonno was some kind of lost child of her sister's, and Luce knew her father was far too loyal to sire a bastard.

Tonno neither confirmed nor denied, but he straightened and stood protectively over the three of them.

Carmine's smile was displeased. "You can stay as a guest, or a babysitter, but you'll receive no reward."

Tonno's lips stretched in a thin smile. "I require no reward, Madam, but thank you for the thought."

...

Living in the mansion of the _Giglio Nero Famiglia_ was interesting. For three orphans who were used to working in a farm, and, more recently, to live in the streets and eat what was available, it was strange to be waited on by a number of servants. Tonno was also visibly disconcerted every time a servant came to him. They each had their own room, Luce's between Marco's and Colombo's respective rooms, Tonno's across from theirs in the same hallway. The mansion itself was not exaggeratedly grand, but still big enough for the Family. It was decorated in dark colors, with carpets and curtains in the bedroom's wing, and the large window in her room showing the woods they had crossed to reach it, and further on, the town Reborn had left them at.

Luce liked the serenity of the whole place, the fresh air from the woods, the coolness of the morning when she opened the window. She liked being here, having so much space to play in with her brothers and not worry about when they would eat next. The nightmare had ended... but she wasn't yet sure if she had or not landed on _another_ nightmare.

Ancora Carmine was many things, but she was not a woman that doted. She was not a mother, but a strict aunt. In less than a week from their arrival, she had arranged tutors to teach Luce and her younger brothers, making sure they had the best she could provide. The first lessons assessed their previous knowledge, and then the tutors began to improve and expand, and she was _fascinated_ because there was _so much_ to learn.

It didn't take long, however, for her to realize that Tonno was not included in those lessons and that sometimes he was barred from accompanying them to certain parts of the house. Carmine disliked him, and her subordinates reflected that dislike in their own ways.

Tonno said not a word of complaint.

...

"I don't like her."

Luce looked up, peering curiously at Colombo as she closed the door behind her. Marco was frowning. "What are you talking about?" They looked up at her, Tonno nowhere in sight.

"Lady Carmine," Colombo murmured, "She doesn't like brother Tonno." He was sulking.

She licked her lips, unsure how to proceed. She liked Aunt Carmine. The woman was strict and did not mince words, but she was gentle with her hands and usually took the time to listen to anything they had to say. Colombo didn't say much to her, now Luce knew why, and Marco seemed to be observing her and her ways.

"I think," Colombo whispers, "That she's going to do something awful to him."

The idea wasn't supposed to frighten her so, especially when Marco's eyes narrowed in with his machinations.

"She's not going to_ touch_ him," Marco's venomous voice cut through all other trains of thought.

"Marco, don't do something stupid," Luce called, alarmed, as she took a seat on the ground beside them. "Even if... we don't like her, she's still our Aunt, and she's still the one providing for us! Be _careful_." She knew better than to tell him to do nothing at all.

"I'm not going to do something stupid!" He retorted, indignant, "I want the best for Tonno, too! She's just... _sabotaging_ him!" He was fuming, and Luce had to hold back a smile at how he easily came to Tonno's defense. It was... cute.

"It's unfair what she's doing, yes," Luce agreed, twisting her hands together, "But she's the only one who can choose what to give, we don't have much of a say."

"Because we're '_just children_'," Marco spit. He was still angry about one of the last times a servant told them off, that they were too young to 'know better about that leeching teenager abusing Lady Carmine's good will'. It grated on Luce as well, but nothing they said changed anyone's mind.

Truthfully, she had no idea why exactly Carmine detested Tonno, but it was unfair of her to withhold so much from him, when all he'd done up to now was to care for them, the children of her sister, as if they were his own siblings.

"We need something to hold over her," Marco burst out suddenly, a strangely excited smile breaking over his face, "Something to _make_ her give these things to Tonno, even if she doesn't want to. I think the teacher called it _blackmail_."

"_How_ do we get something like that?" Colombo asked, uneasy, "He also told us it's really hard to come by for some people..."

"Leave that to me," Marco's confidence didn't abate Luce's fears, "Tomorrow we need to go to the town, but don't worry, I have a plan."

...

That night, Luce dreamed of a maze, of blood and soft flesh beneath her hands, of fear and red eyes, of crying and screaming- and only after she woke gasping, was that she realized she was the one to cry and scream.

Tonno's comforting nonsense as he rocked her back and forth didn't ease her mind, and she clung to him, crying, until she fell back asleep.


	5. Light IV

_I don't know what normal is. I don't think I ever knew._

_But this is so out of orbit... I am an anomaly._

* * *

Luce woke late, and alone. Looking for Marco and Colombo yielded only that they had left early on, when it was clear she would not wake quickly. She just hoped they would be alright, and not get into too much trouble. However, it still left a problem of what to do with her day. Usually they would be filled with classes or she would spend them playing with her brothers, but today was Sunday, and her brothers were off to see to Marco's plan. And Luce was left at the mansion.

It occurred to her that Marco wouldn't have told Tonno his plan, or taken him with them, so she sought him out. No servant or member of the _Giglio Nero_ could tell her where he seemed to have taken up residence, and all of them twisted their mouths or scrunched their noses in some sort of disgust, so she refrained from questioning them further. It didn't help she thought that more than half of them were lying to her face about where Tonno had gone.

She wouldn't put it past them.

These small things made her cringe, and the more the servants acted out against Tonno, the more she could feel a cold dislike take hold of her every time they slighted him. He didn't retaliate, as far as she knew, but he couldn't like them either, so...

So he'd be where they wouldn't bother him, his bedroom.

She turned around and retraced her steps back to their hallway.

...

A soft knock and a one worded question was all she needed for Tonno to call her inside. She opened the door slowly, noting how the room seemed empty of anything personal, though the bed wasn't made. It looked a bit of a mess, actually, even with Tonno sitting on it, back to her.

She took her time, watching him.

His brown hair was wild, spiking strangely every-which-way, some of them weighted down by their length, reaching just past his shoulders, some even resting in the middle of his back, over a strange mark. She hadn't seen the mark before, wasn't given the chance to see him without a shirt, but it wasn't a mark she recognized. A winged clam rested on the center of his back, the spread wings arching up over his shoulder blades. The clam itself was a dark orange, the wings a creamy color.

Over the clam was a stylized 'X', edges swirled, painted gold and almost shining under the light.

He pulled on a shirt before she could study it further, and turned to smile at her. "What do you need?"

Luce blushed slightly, scratching the back of her neck. "Marco and Colombo are out, and I thought I might spend some time with you, is it alright?"

"Of course," Tonno's smile was soft, and he patted the bed for her to sit. "Do you have anything to talk about, or just want the company?" She shrugged, and he grinned in understanding before returning to his clothes. He rolled his hair up, tying a frail string around the high bundle before squishing his customary hat over everything. A few strands stubbornly fell over his cheeks and ears, but Tonno let them be.

Luce traced his cheeks with her eyes, and thoughts she hadn't had the proper time to dwell on came back. Tonno... wasn't fully Italian. Where an Italian was loud, he was soft. Where an Italian might laugh, he smiled. There was something else about him, in general. "Where are you from, brother?"

Tonno blinked at her for a few moments, before a wry smile flitted through his mouth. "Japan. It's where I was born, and raised for... a long time," he shrugged sheepishly.

"What was it like?" Luce tried to picture it in her mind- long flowing dresses and painted faces; tiny, shy steps coupled with sharp blades and honor.

"Lively," Tonno paused, eyes distant and locked with his hands. She followed his gaze, the tiny scars of Reborn's nails and a few burn scars Luce did not know the cause jumping out at her gaze. His fingers traced imaginary rings on their bases, and pressed lightly on the back of the hand, above where the tiny burns seemed to be worse. "My friends were usually loud and happy, always going about making all sorts of trouble, and I had to help them out of it," the tiny smile in his mouth was nostalgic- of something old and long gone, a fond memory he didn't seem to believe would return. "That was Japan for me, my world. My friends."

"Why don't you go back?" Luce asked softly. Maybe she could go with him, meet these friends he spoke so dearly of, have them become her friends, too.

"I can't." There was a strange finality in his voice, and Luce faltered.

"We could... could get the money, and find someplace to stay and-" she tried, if only thinking that maybe it was something that could be fixed or obtained, or anything as soon as she was the Boss, able to command the family and all the resources at her beck and call.

"I can't," Tonno shot her a small, grateful look, and she couldn't help but think _grateful for what, I did nothing_ before he continued, "They're lost to me."

_Home_. She was the one who would lead him _Home_. She knew this, didn't she, but if it wasn't with anything she had now... Anything she could have, money, or transport, or power, then what? How would she get him home? She had no idea. If his home was gone, destroyed? She could rebuild it. If his friends and family were... dead...?

"Don't worry," Tonno, gentle, loving Tonno, ruffled her hair and smiled. "I have a home here, with the three of you. Even Reborn."

Luce ignored the strange lilt of his voice, and looked at him. "I'll get you home, one day, I promise." She told him, resolutely. In his eyes, she could see he didn't believe her, but something seemed to lighten.

"Don't overwork yourself," he chuckled quietly, "and Luce... thank you." He kissed her forehead.

She hadn't thought her cheeks could burn so hot.

...

There wasn't much else to do, and Luce knew that, so she continued to observe him once her blush had subsided. He rose from the bed, ignoring the covers that fell to the ground, and stretched. She heard loud pops from his neck, back and arm. Tonno often seemed too loose and too tense at the same time, as if there was a constant worry, a constant nightmare; and yet he knew there was nothing he could do.

Luce wanted to help. At the same time, she didn't think he would tell her if she asked. Even answering her questions, the words were strangely vague. It showed her what kind of person he was, but not about where he lived or who his friends and family were. She doubted he would explain in detail, especially if she asked and probed. It was possible that instead of knowing more, she would simply push him further away.

It sort of hurt.

"Brother..." She called, watching him twitch in half-suppressed surprise, still, at the title, "What's your name? Your_ real _name?" With that, she was treated to the strangest sight in all the time she knew him.

Not only did his head snap in her direction (she could have sworn she heard his neck crack a second time), his eyes a dark, coffee brown that made her blink; His foot immediately caught on the fallen covers, twisted in them and he stumbled, a yelp-turned-shriek falling from his lips as he hit his head on a bedpost and disappeared on the other side of the bed.

Luce had spent almost a full year with her brothers wandering the streets, before they had come to the _Giglio Nero_. Luce and her younger brothers knew Tonno as their caretaker, the teenager with agile reflexes and a protective streak more than three miles wide. They had seen him jump in front of bullets aimed at the three on more than one occasion (though his dormant strength seemed to have something to do with the way he never seemed to get hurt), and Tonno had never been graceless. She feared him, especially when the orange in his eyes spread, _especially_ when the red began to tarnish the orange; she was terrified of him, but he had always seemed able to hold her fear at bay, be it with a reassuring look or a worried one. Tonno had always, always been able to stand, his autumn eyes- a light, soft brown of autumn leaves-_ burning_. Tonno had always been everything that stood between the siblings and absolute despair and death.

In that moment, when she asked him what his real name was- no one was named _Tuna_ by their parents, seriously, especially not in Italian while in Italy; therefore it was not much of a leap to think he had given himself that name for whatever reason- she wanted to know the name he had always known himself as. Unlike Reborn, who she could sense did not have a proper name beforehand, Tonno had one. One he had done his best to scratch away from other's knowledge. In that moment, falling gracelessly and caught completely by surprise, Tonno had looked even younger, his eyes darkening to a warm coffee brown, dark, dark, with no trace of orange. He had looked soft and _cuddly_ in a way she had never seen before and his shriek...

"...'hiii'?" Luce repeated, perplexed.

He appeared from the other side of the bed, the hat fallen once again, and coffee brown eyes closed tightly as he hissed in pain, pressing on where he had hit his head. After a few moments, he managed to open a teary eye to look at her. "W-what..?"

Luce shook herself from her surprise and eyed him. "Your real name..?"

He visibly fought to not let his jaw hang in the air out of shock. "...why do you think I have another name?"

She felt some sort of annoyance brew in the back of her mind, but ignored it. "Tonno is the name you gave yourself," she told him matter-of-factly, "I just wanted to know the name you actually think yourself as."

Tonno threw her an uneasy look. "Isn't there anything else? _Anything_ else you want to know?"

_The names of your friends and family_, she bit her lips to not say. "No. Why won't you tell me your name?"

"...because I don't think you're supposed to know," his voice was quiet, and his eyes began to lighten to the autumn-brown she knew.

She hated it. "Why not? This is the only thing I'm asking of you now, and you can't tell me? Is it that dangerous a secret?" The last question was some sarcastic outlet for frustration, and Luce regretted it almost immediately.

"I think so," Tonno's tiny grin wavered, "I think so."

She fell silent, flopping down on his bed and holding back tears. Frustration, anger, or some deep-seated sadness, she didn't know the difference.

...

She napped. Tonno kept her company for a good, long time.

She dreamed of herself, much older than she was now, and far, _far_ wiser than she thought she could ever be.

She dreamed of Her Own: Six out of Seven reunited in one place. She didn't know their faces, but she knew them, recognized them by soul alone. They were _Hers_, and Hers they would remain as long as she lived.

She saw Tonno, far more lost than he was now, dogged by a boy that passed as his Brother. She dreamed of Reborn, of Tonno, of a danger that shined like Snow.

She dreamed that she pushed Tonno and his Brother from a cliff. She dreamed that Reborn cursed and resisted, but in the end relented, and she told him not to fret.

She dreamed of _fire_.

...

Tonno woke her once evening fell, in time for dinner. She could not think of any word to say him aside a thank you, and he seemed at a strange loss as to how to bridge the gap inadvertedly open between them.

Only, once they reached the hall, there was no chance to continue pondering, because Marco had returned from his outing with three guards and Colombo- and he returned alone.


	6. Spiral Shot: Mammon

The first time Mammon meets Tsunayoshi Sawada, the _arcobaleno_ has the distinct feeling that there is something he is forgetting. Something, not _important_, per se, but something Mammon knows would make a difference. Something that would give an edge of sorts for Boss. Something Mammon tries hard to remember.

But Mammon has no time to dwell on it.

The terrible machine standing behind their backs, watching the Varia so closely, he can almost think the thing has some sort of sentience beyond the programming. Mammon thinks the Boss does these things kind of on purpose.

He also thinks Squalo knows something he's not telling. It's not quite his place to question, however, and he's not being paid for anything significant, so he shrugs it off.

Tsunayoshi Sawada, on the other hand, is not easily dismissed. Half of his Guardians match the Varia one-by-one, and the other half cannot match them simply because they haven't gone off the deep end, or because some restraint was at work_**–**_ Mammon considered the time allocation of the Ten-Years Bazooka a restraint, not that he'd ever tell Boss his real thoughts.

Mammon doesn't tell Boss a lot of things; especially that, the moment he properly _looked_ at Tsunayoshi Sawada, he knew Boss would lose, even if the boy seemed _lacking_, somehow.

* * *

The second time Mammon meets Tsunayoshi Sawada, by Reborn's impassive face throughout the whole of the Arcobaleno Trials, Mammon knows something serious is going on behind the scenes.

The firepower of the _Vongola Decimo_ is frightening. Mammon doesn't think he has ever seen something so _burning_, and it's this orange fire that reminds him of his thoughts during the Ring Battles, and he wonders.

How had he known the boy would win against Boss, when Boss was supposed to be so much stronger, if simply that the advantages he accumulated_**–**_ being in the Vongola since a young age, a natural at controlling Will Flames, and overall temper making a frightening combination_**–**_ were supposed to be enough to put down the Sawada boy?

Mammon honestly thinks there is something more to the boy. He also knows that speaking of these thoughts to Reborn is the stupidest course of action possible, and he doubts Colonello would even know what he means. Lal Mirch might, but she works for the boy's father, and so she is off the list.

That leaves Skull, Fon, and Verde. Mammon thinks that, just for a moment, he misses Luce. Just a bit.

* * *

Verde is a man_**–**_ or maybe, the better word is _baby__**–**_ that Mammon does not like to talk to outside of business transactions. There is little he actually cares about besides Science itself, and even other duties or tasks he makes sure to complete while studying something beneficial to his Science. So Mammon makes sure that every dealing with him has business; but this doesn't leave many openings.

Tsunayoshi Sawada is more than just the Trash that Boss calls him, he is a tar on the canvas, a_**–**_

"_**–**_glitch in the system," Verde finishes with a strange gleam in his eyes. It's not the usual gleam of interest for his Science, it's not disinterest for something that will not benefit him. The scientist knows something. "I know he is."

"What is he, then?" Mammon frowns under his hood. That the boy had caught Verde's attention even before Mammon had come to him_**–**_ this was _dangerous_. Just this particular piece of information would be enough to worry even _Reborn_.

"Exactly what you said," Verde pushes his glasses closer to his face, the glare of the light hiding his eyes, "A glitch in the system. Not quite there _yet_, you see, but it's already dictated for him. Fon and... _Luce_ would know more than I." Mammon ignores the hesitation before her name_**–**_ all the _arcobaleno_ hesitate to remember her at one point or another.

"Why would _Luce_ know about this?" She's been missing for a long while, and if her daughter appearing with her pacifier for the Trials meant anything, it was that she could no longer perform her duties as the _Sky Arcobaleno_, the only possible reason being_**–**_

"Look," Verde now sounds annoyed, "Fon and I escaped from her failsafes for simple reasons. I have no interest in interfering, and truthfully, simply observing right now will give me more knowledge of all this. Fon knows better than to interfere. Luce _knew_."

Mammon feels suddenly as if an universal truth, an axis of the world has shifted. Not out of place, no, simply shifted, as if showing another side of itself to be known. Verde says nothing more and ignores further inquiries from him, so Mammon leaves.

He feels as if he is involved, somehow, without even wanting to be.

* * *

Mammon does not give up. As much as he detests the idea, he goes after Fon. It is not surprising that he does not need to say a word. Fon is waiting for him in a small house, painted to resemble tradionally japanese _shoji_ doors and walls. The table has a teapot steaming, two cups already served, a particular obscure brand of indian tea that Mammon likes_**–**_ and that he was quite sure only Luce knew that particular like of him.

"I believe I know what you came to me for." Fon sips his teacup, reddish-brown eyes intent on him. Mammon gently floats down to sit across him and takes the other teacup, gingerly.

"Who is Tsunayoshi Sawada?" Mammon asks without preamble. Generally, he would ease the conversation to the question, but this whole business has a complete air of uneasiness that has been making him paranoid, and he hates it.

"Wrong question," Fon murmurs, closing his eyes. Mammon has to make an effort not to thrown his deadliest illusion at the other infant.

"...why is he a 'glitch in the system', as Verde put it?" he grudgingly reformulates the question. How he hates this martial artist.

Fon opens his eyes. The intensity there is somewhat frightening. "Luce's failsafe," he begins, and has to spare a sharp look before Mammon can interrupt, "Was a very simple system. Those of us who knew more were the ones most affected, which means the last one to break her failsafe will be Reborn."

The illusionist jerks, baffled. "She did something to _Reborn_? I thought they were quite enamored with each other, despite keeping the whole loyalty-to-marriage thing?"

Fon's lips quirk, somewhat bitterly. "Luce's faithfullness was the excuse she gave us, and Reborn, as a reason to keep herself from him, but even that wouldn't have stopped her." He doesn't elaborate.

For some reason, Mammon is afraid of what elaboration of that notion entails. "Which one of us would be the first to... 'break her failsafe'?"

"You," Fon's smile is thin and terrible, and Mammon realizes he has something hanging on all this, he is expecting something, there is something that will be given to him when this is all over_**–**_

"Wouldn't you or Verde be the first?" he wonders for a moment.

"We never had the failsafe implanted," Fon shrugs, but there is something dark and... angry? in his eyes. Mammon does a double-take under his hood out of surprise.

"Verde because he gains more by not interfering..." Mammon recalled the words, "And you because you won't interfere. Interfere in _what_?"

Fon raises his head to look back at him, the feeble anger draining and the curve of his lips turning tired. "The moment the failsafe breaks, you'll know. But don't say a word, not even I know what would happen if you stop it, and I'm not willing to risk it. Just... let it run it's course. ...please."

Mammon leaves. He keeps quiet that Fon, the martial artist who liked to more or less lord over him that martial arts were superior to illusions, _begged_ him something. He realizes he has something to hold over the other infant's head.

The thought doesn't give him the pleasure he once believed it might give.

* * *

The third time Mammon meets Tsunayoshi Sawada, something in the back of hiss head snaps.

Instinctively, Mammon rounds up the released memories and carefully stores them away to properly look over when he's not preocuppied with the fuss over the Byakuran mess, followed by the Shimon fiasco.

When the Shimon fiasco has finally blown over, Mammon takes a day off and meditates, gently releasing the memories and sorting them out. There is a fairly faded one from his childhood, of a frightening teenager. With the memory free, Mammon recalls that it was this teenager's terrifying lecture that shifted his perception of self.

The released memory finishes with Mammon fleeing the teenager. It takes him a few moments to connect the other children as Luce, Reborn, and two unknowns.

The rest of the memories deal with the years the arcobaleno worked for Checkerface. Mammon knows the importance of these memories. It is frightening how much more interaction they had with the mysterious man than he remembered. It explains why Fon knew his favorite brand of tea. He keeps silent_**–**_ but not for his fellow _arcobaleno_.

He keeps silent out of respect for _Vero_.

* * *

After that, Mammon meets him again.

It's not Tsunayoshi Sawada.

It's _Tonno_.


End file.
